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| Research article summary (published 30 Dec 2001): |
Neuropsychological testing to improve surgical management of patients with chronic hydrocephalus after shunt treatment.
Full Abstract
AIM:
To find out a practical neuropsychological tool for early and reliable outcome assessment in chronic hydrocephalus. In 30 patients (65 +/- 13 yrs.) 11 neuropsychological tests providing a wide range of psychomotor functions (visual and verbal attention, verbal memory and learning and visuomotor skills) were applied before (pre), one week (early) and 7 months (late) after shunting. After 7 months, clinical outcome was classified according to Stein and Langfitt. Statistics included factor analysis, logistic regression and non-parametric tests. Visual attention ("Digit-symbol"), verbal recall ("10-words-list") and motor precision ("line-tracing") were the most representative (and practical) tests (orthogonal loads > 0.9). These tests, in contrast to others, revealed significant differences between outcome groups concerning early postoperative changes:
responder showed marked improvement in visual attention t-scores (47 +/- 8 vs. 41 +/- 8 (pre); p = 0.005) and motor precision scores (109 +/- 26 vs. 149 +/- 47 (pre); p = 0.03). Non-responder even decreased in verbal recall t-scores early after shunting (35 +/- 7 vs. 41 +/- 11 (pre); p = 0.007). By logistic regression, visual attention was most sensitive indicating shunt-response by early psychometric changes (p = 0.04). Psychomotor deficits in hydrocephalic patients can be represented by a few neuropsychological skills:
visual attention, verbal recall and line tracing. Since they showed early post-operative differences regarding long-term response to shunting they may offer a practical and standardised method for reliable follow-up.
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Author information
Author/s: Klinge, P (P); Rückert, N (N); Schuhmann, M (M); Dörner, L (L); Brinker, T (T); Samii, M (M);
Affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Medical School and Nordstadt Hospital Hannover, Hannover, Germany.
Journal and publication information
Publication Type: Journal Article
Journal: Acta neurochirurgica. Supplement (Acta Neurochir Suppl), published in Austria. (Language: eng)
Reference: 2002-; vol 81 (issue ) : pp 51-3
Dates: Created 2002/08/09; Completed 2003/01/21; Revised 2004/11/17;
PMID: 12168355, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)
Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.
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